child marriage virtually end a girl's education. when girls are able to stay in school and avoid being married early, they can build a foundation for their lives, their families and participate in the progress of their countries. on this first international day of the girl child, we must double our commitment ensuring that all countries enact and enforce laws to increase the minimum age of marriage for girls to 18. we must demand that all countries offer access to education for all children and ensure that gender gaps in schools are eliminated. we must demand that the root causes underlying child marriage, gender discrimination, poverty and cultural justifications be ended here and arled the -- around the world. and we must not forget the girls around the world that demand these things. there is a girl who is 14 -year-old who was shot in the head by the taliban. she was attacked because she stood up to the taliban when they took over two years ago and they ordered all the girl schools to be closed down. she revealed what this experi